title: The efficacy of agomelatine in previously-treated depressed patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Post-hoc analysis of two randomized controlled trials with agomelatine was undertaken to compare data on pretreated versus untreated patients with major depressive disorder.
  
  
  METHODS
  Selected trials were Olié and Kasper (2007), a placebo-controlled trial, and Kasper et al. (2010), a randomized, double-blind comparison with sertraline.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 40% and 57.7% of patients had been pretreated with antidepressants in the placebo-controlled trial and sertraline-controlled trial, respectively. In the previously-treated patients in the placebo-controlled study, the mean decrease in the total score on the HAM-D₁₇ over 6 weeks was significantly greater with agomelatine than placebo (delta=4.43, P=0.005) and 67.5% of patients were responders. In the previously-treated patients of the sertraline-controlled study, the improvement on the HAM-D₁₇ total score remained numerically higher with agomelatine (delta=1.63, P=0.124), with 55.2% responders. In both studies, agomelatine was well tolerated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Data from the subset of previously treated depressed patients, who can be considered more difficult to treat, indicate that agomelatine, due to its different mode of action, demonstrated antidepressant efficacy, and favorable side effect profile-with proven benefits in first-line treatment-is also an effective candidate for patients with major depressive disorder previously treated with other antidepressants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. sci-biolpsy@meduniwien.ac.at
authors.forename: Siegfried
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kasper
authors.forename: Göran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hajak
mesh_terms: D000081:Acetamides / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D016903:Drug Monitoring; D004351:Drug Resistance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057194:Intention to Treat Analysis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D044094:Receptors, Melatonin / Q000819:agonists*; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D058830:Serotonin 5-HT2 Receptor Antagonists / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D020280:Sertraline / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009281:Naphthalenes
chemical_list: D000081:Acetamides; D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D044094:Receptors, Melatonin; D058830:Serotonin 5-HT2 Receptor Antagonists; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; D020280:Sertraline; C084711:agomelatine; D009281:Naphthalenes
keywords: Agomelatine; Depression; Efficacy; Meta-analysis; Sertraline